GOMuskegon! a new way for visitors and residents to explore community from their phone

MUSKEGON, MI – Visitors and local residents alike can have Muskegon in the palm of their hands.

GoMuskegonApp.jpgMuskegon chamberThe GOMuskegon! smartphone application can be used with iPhone, Android and Blackberry Mobile Web devices. The apps’ background photo is of the “Love Muskegon” crew in the freezing waters of Lake Michigan last December.

The Muskegon Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce on Friday released a new smartphone mobile application – GOMuskegon!

It is the first community mobile application for Muskegon County and it is a free download for iPhone, Android and Blackberry Mobile Web operating devices.

“We are very excited to be able to offer the community and our members such a valuable resource,” chamber President Cindy Larsen said. “This mobile app will really put our members on the map and literally put them at people’s fingertips.”

The chamber has joined forces with the Muskegon County Convention and Visitors Bureau to launch the new wireless technology.

“This was the perfect partnership for us,” Muskegon County Community Development Director Bob Lukens said. “Anything that makes Muskegon more accessible to those outside of the area and promotes tourism destinations within the area helps our efforts to grow the number of visitors, conventions and business travelers considering Muskegon as their next destination.”

GOMuskegon! allows users to access a continually updated chamber business directory, providing “touch” option to instantly access a business telephone, email or website. a chamber calendar allows users to share events.

The application has a geo-location and mapping system to allow businesses nearby the user to be highlighted and graphically displayed on a map. a “near me” button automatically shows businesses in the close proximity to the user, while another feature offers “local deals” to users.

Finally, the application has a QR code scanner. The square-box graphic code can be read by the application and smartphone, taking users to specific websites.

The GOMuskgon! application was created under contract with the Muskegon chamber by Chamber2GO of MetroMedia Publishers, a Kansas City company that produces mobile products for chambers across the country.

“all chamber member businesses receive a free listing and with more smartphones in the marketplace, we saw the importance to promote our members to this audience,” Larsen said of about 25 percent of people having the advanced wireless devices.

The application can now be downloaded for free from the iPhone App Store, Android Market or through gomuskegon.mobi for Blackberry users.

Chamber members can upgrade their listing on the wireless application. Those interested can contact chamber Vice President Dawn Johnson at 724-3175. The application project is being sponsored by the Shoreline Inn and Conference Center.

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